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Quizzes > Books & Literature

To a Skylark MCQ: Test Your Knowledge of Shelley's Poem

Quick, free To a Skylark quiz-test your grasp of theme, tone, and imagery. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Varga CsabaUpdated Aug 28, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art illustration featuring a stylized skylark and quiz title Shelley to a Skylark on a dark blue background

This quiz helps you review Percy Shelley's "To a Skylark"-key lines, imagery, sound, and themes-so you can see what you've mastered and what to revisit. For extra practice with techniques, try our literary devices quiz and figure of speech quiz, or go deeper with a rhetorical devices quiz.

In the opening line, how does Shelley address the skylark?
Winged Muse
Heavenly Sprite
Gentle Bird
Blithe Spirit
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Who wrote To a Skylark?
John Keats
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
William Wordsworth
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What overall poetic form best describes To a Skylark?
A ballad
A dramatic monologue
A sonnet sequence
An ode
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The poem contains the line "Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought."
True
False
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The skylark in the poem is often unseen while it sings high above.
True
False
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How many lines are in each stanza of To a Skylark?
Six
Five
Four
Eight
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The poet speaks to the skylark only in the third person.
False
True
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Approximately how many stanzas does To a Skylark contain?
21
12
30
7
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What is distinctive about the fifth line in each stanza?
It always contains a direct question
It repeats the first line verbatim
It is written in prose rather than verse
It is shorter and gives a quick, emphatic close to the stanza
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Which of the following similes does the speaker use to compare the skylark to creative inspiration?
A poet hidden in the light of thought
A shepherd piping on the hills
A painter mixing colors at dawn
A diver seeking pearls
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Which image does Shelley use to evoke secluded, refined music?
A queen upon her throne
A nun in a cloister
A shepherdess in a meadow
A high-born maiden in a tower
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Which natural image does Shelley employ to describe hidden radiance?
A firefly over a lake
A glow-worm golden in a dell of dew
A comet blazing across the night
A lightning bug in a jar
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Which floral image does Shelley use to suggest veiled beauty and fragrance?
A rose embowered in its own green leaves
A lily floating on a pond
A daisy in the grass
A violet under a hedge
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What is the predominant rhyme scheme of each stanza in To a Skylark?
ABBBA
ABABB
ABABCC
AABB
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The poem explicitly advocates political revolution.
True
False
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Which of the following images from the poem evokes the sky at dusk?
"The crimson tide at break of day"
"The silver moon on midnight snow"
"The golden lightning of the sunken sun"
"The pale star on the eastern rim"
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What effect does the skylark's altitude have on the listener in the poem?
It allows clear sight of the bird's plumage
The song seems to pour from the sky without a visible source
It becomes inaudible and irrelevant
It terrifies the listener into silence
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The poem states "Bird thou always wert."
False
True
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What does the speaker admit about comprehending the skylark?
"Thy nature is plain as day"
"Thy secrets are all revealed"
"What thou art we know not"
"We know thee root and branch"
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With which larger work was To a Skylark first published in 1820?
The Revolt of Islam
Prometheus Unbound
Queen Mab
Adonais
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Study Outcomes

  1. Analyze Poetic Imagery -

    Learn to dissect Shelley's vivid nature imagery in "To a Skylark" and explain how these images shape the poem's emotional impact.

  2. Identify Key Themes -

    Spot central themes like transcendence, joy, and the power of art within the poem and articulate their significance to Shelley's message.

  3. Recognize Poetic Techniques -

    Pinpoint Shelley's use of alliteration, metaphor, apostrophe, and other devices, and understand how they enhance the lyrical flow.

  4. Interpret Symbolism -

    Unpack the symbolism of the skylark and other motifs to reveal deeper layers of meaning in Shelley's work.

  5. Recall Structural Elements -

    Recall the poem's stanzaic structure, meter, and rhyme scheme to appreciate its formal composition.

  6. Evaluate Lyrical Mastery -

    Assess how Shelley's rhythmic patterns and sound devices contribute to the poem's musicality and enduring appeal.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Symbolism of the Skylark -

    In the poem "shelley to a skylark," the skylark functions as a symbol of pure, spontaneous inspiration and divine creativity, a reading supported by Modern Language Quarterly analyses. Mnemonic: think "bird=bard" to link flight with the poet's transcendent muse.

  2. Apostrophe and Poetic Structure -

    Shelley's direct address to the bird (apostrophe) engages readers in an intimate dialogue, a device highlighted in Cambridge University Press commentaries. Notice the poem's consistent sonnet-like stanzas and ABABCC rhyme scheme to appreciate how form reinforces its lyrical intensity.

  3. Sound Devices and Musicality -

    Alliteration ("Like a…"), assonance, and onomatopoeia create the skylark's song, as detailed in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Romantic Studies. A simple trick: underline repeated consonants to hear Shelley's orchestral effect.

  4. Themes of Nature and Knowledge -

    "To a Skylark" explores nature as a teacher, suggesting that human wisdom falls short of the bird's instinctual truth, a point emphasized by Norton Anthology editors. Remember the phrase "Nature Knows More" to recall this theme for your to a skylark poem quiz.

  5. Synesthetic Imagery -

    Shelley blends senses - describing scent, color, and song - to evoke a synesthetic experience, a technique discussed in scholarly articles from Romantic Circles. Use the mnemonic "S - C - S" (sight, sound, smell) to track each sensory layer in your analysis.

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